1/1985 swap to 1986 Turbo LS1 Porvette

the corvette is recessed and painted in. The 5.7 and the lines are bumped up, You could fill the corvette in with some filler that would withstand engine bay temp and paint on new or even modify them to spell porsche after filling. But I like the vette it will surprise people when they open the hood.

No pics tonight, all I did was put the pan on, but I forgot how massive these engines are once fully assembled. I really cant believe it fits in our engine bays and replaces that worn out 4 cyl.

Managed to borrow a tool from the dealership to install the ls1 harmonic pulley. It just had to be a custom specialized tool just for that motor. Now I have to wait to get the engine in the car in order to torque it properly without the engine spinning while trying to torque to 240ft-lbs.

I guess the next step is to get serious now and reinstall the trans and engine. Yes the fun stuff. I wish I had a car lift at times. LOL.

Looking REALLY good! I'm excited for you!

I think i would remove the paint on the A/N fitting for the oil lines. You don't want anything (even paint!) getting in there to affect the sealing. It could lead to some leaks...

I was thinking about that, I tried to cover them up when I did the paint but it didnt work to well. I will tinker with it when I get it all together before I assemble the lines.

Thanks for looking out.

Well thanks to Robert and getting me mount trans mount super fast, I was able to get the box installed today with the VSS setup. Not as plug-in play as I hoped but what can you do when working on parts designed for one vehicle specifically. I did some grinding and elongating of the holes on the bracket, like Eric said might have to be done since every vehicle is slightly different. and finally managed to get it close to perfect.

Next step is to put the heart in the beast and tighten all my bolts and fill her up with fluids. But my next concentration has to be on my Calculus test Thursday.

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Almost forgot to switch my pilot bearing form the old crank to my new one. That would have sucked. I have the engine sitting in front of the car with the flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate assembled on it.

I have to remove the A/c condenser so I am not lifting the car higher than necessary and I will be sliding my engine underneath rather easily since it is rest on a furniture dolly. But I hate to say it, I have to study and not work on my car. That really bites.

More pics coming soon. And good thing Thanksgiving break will be here soon too, I can get more quality time in the shop.

Pictures later tonight.

I have the engine installed completely now. Now I have to get the fluids and wiring to their places so I can get everything torque correctly. I still have to install the radiator but am going to wait until the engine is 90% ready so I take less chance bashing against it with anything.

Here are some pics I promised. I will put more up as I assemble the rest. I have to install the radiator and cooling lines next. Then I get to hook up all the wires and fill the trans up with oil. Gettting closer, and that is my wife helping pull the engine forward as I am underneath tightening up those stubborn bell housing bolts.
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Got the rear end all bolted down now, got to get under my parts car and see if it has the round gasket that goes on the trans bell housing to keep dust out.

Hooked up the majority of the engine and checked to make sure the engine turns the tires.

Figuring out how to hook the radiator up in this turbo body. It has a different upper mount than the early n/a car did. any suggestion on how to install it would be nice. I am going to look over Vorsche's pics and see what all he did.

after that I have to install the starter, relocate the oil filter and the driver side rear coil pack, then I should only have the exhaust, and dash to put back in.

I have found out that you have to modify the fuel rail cover on the driver's side to get it to fit under the brake system. So for now I will run the fuel rail with its inlet on the passenger side and wait to modify the covers until I get the hydroboost brakes on. I leave some of the modifying to the soon to be expert in it, Eric. lol.

So I am pretty close. I am anxious tyring to control the urge to crank it over until I double check everything.

Would you mind measuring from the rear of the hood latch panel to the forward edge of the throttle body flange. I'm interested in what can fit in that space. Thanks.

can you take a picture of your throttle body and show me what part you want me to measure to specifically. I do better with pictures.

I think you are talking about the round air intake part right?

Yes, the round intake, how much space is there between it and the latch panel.
I have a right angle rubber tube to connect the TB with Mass Air Sensor, just wondering if there is room for it because I read in other posts about the lack of room between the TB and latch panel.
Thanks for your help and your very informative pictures.

I'm collecting all the parts for my swap and plan to take 6 weeks off in the new year to do everything.
The plan is to have all parts and knowledge to allow me to hit the ground running.
This is my third swap, 1 and 2 were 215ci V8 in a MGB Roadster and a GM 3.4 V6 in a MGB GT.

I will do you one better. I will get pics and show you my intake setup as it is now. I plan on doing what Eric did to docs car with the intake in the spot for the intercooler

Don't forget to take a belt sander to the forward throttle body protrusion to get another 3/8" hood clearance.

I will if I get a belt sander. lol.

Last time all I did was cut a small rectangle out of the hood brace on the old hood.

I will mess with it once I get that far though. Thanks robert

here is your pictures you wanted. It looks like that tranny mount actually did some good up front. My intake is not right on the hood latch and has a small gap now.

Keep in mind that since the 944s were hand assembled that there may be slight variances in the different cars. My hood latch to Throttle Body clearance is 3 6/8-7/8" gap.
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The dyno shop I had setup up the coolant lines and do some of the final wiring on my early model came up with this booth and mandrel bent tubing. It flows nice.
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IIRC you can grind about 3/16" off the hood latch corners. Your build is coming along nicely.

Thank you, excellent pics, look like I have a similar elbow to yours.
Really appreciate your pics as it makes it easier for us in the planning/procurement phase.

no problem. I had no planning when I did my early model. I just bought RH kit and threw it together not knowing what I got myself into. But this time around I have a better idea of what is going on, so I know what to look for.

Pictures are better for every one. I have a TBI (traumatic brain injury), from my army time, so its hard for me to relate just words to something, I need pics too. So if you ever need any more just let me know.

I am realizing I can grind just about anything on this project. I had to elongate the holes on my aftermarket throttle cable holder, sine the throttle cable that I have seems maybe a 1/2 short or so opening the butterfly valve a hair.

Also with my intake setup, I had to take out the headlight bracket on the driver side. I plan to swap to flush headlight buckets at a later date, but for now I will have to improvise a solution to keep the lights up.

We all thank you for your service, well done.

I purchased the buckets from TPC , I think you will be pleased.

Looks like my build has come to a stop for alittle while. The weather here is getting colder at night, and my reddy heater doesnt want to start right now. It has been sitting for the last two years since I went overseas and lived in an apartment and didnt need it. I broke the Hot surface ignition taking it all apart to clean it.

Hopefully I will get some day time work in, but temps in the 30's in a pole barn shop with no heat and a concrete floor kinda stinks for night time work. My hands freeze.

Yes, thank you for posting the photos - and thanks for the explanation regarding the headlight mechanism. I am working through the same options for mounting the intake - and was trying to figure out how you ran the straight section of tubing right through the area where the driver's side headlight mechanism sits.

Having tried a number of approaches, I may end up cutting out the hood latch and going straight through and placing the filter under the header panel.

Dan.

I plan on going with the straight shot approach later once I get to a place with the tools to do so. As far as the headlights later I plan on doing bucket setup some how.

You are welcome, I do what I can to do my part in helping since I cant machine parts.